According to Plato, education and defense of justice also includes an equally powerful and purposeful defense for philosophical education. This education should be in two forms: the education of the guardian (also referred to as warriors), as well as education for Philosophers-kings. The philosophical form of education is progressive and playful as suggested in the cave analogy provided by Socrates.
Education of the guardian on the other hand is supposed to be one that enables people to live in peace and order. This education therefore should instill in the learners, a sense of military order and discipline. This will enable the guards to -be, to manage the city and ensure that order and peace is maintained. This is because Socrates tells of an ideal city having the potential of crime and trouble that needs someone to ensure that there is peace and order. Socrates states that good guardians must not be prisoners nor can they be philosophers who selfishly stay outside the cave. Instead, he suggests that they need to escape and acquire an education on the good, and also in philosophy. He also talks of the importance of calculations, geometry and cubes.
Thus the education of the guardian and any other member of the society need to include Mathematics. He states that the abstractness of mathematics causes students exercise their intellect and ask questions about what really is. That is questions about reality. The abstractness of mathematics causes students to exercise their intellect and question reality. Socrates says that calculations leads the soul powerfully and upward and compels it to discuss numbers themselves. This means that through the study of complex and elusive concepts, one is pushed to study what is permanent and perfect.
Plato’s Republic is fondly known for its ultimate quest for the defense of justice. This however is not the only attribute exhibited by Plato’s republic. The defense for philosophical education cannot be overlooked. This is evident in the dialogue that takes place between Socrates and his allies. Through this dialogue, understanding Socrates ideology on education reveals itself.
Education of the guardian should also involve the study of dialectics as well as reasoning through questioning and answering. These exchange arguments teaches how to give accounts of oneself and about what one knows. This is useful in identifying the good in oneself and in others in the world.
In the Republic Plato gives two seemingly differing perspectives on education through Socrates. The first version of this perspective is that education of the guardian. The guardians here represent people who are often in positions of power. This power is usually felt by the rest of the people who are ordinary citizens. The guardians are therefore very important people in society and there is therefore need to educate them and instill qualities that society needs. On the other hand, the second perspective is the education of philosopher kings. Most of the ideas provided in the Republic about education are hard to capture but it is evident that in this book, Socrates provides a direction to towards the understanding of education.
According to Socrates guardian’s education is vital and has a lot of value to the society. This is because this education prepares them for their roles in future. Before the eligible candidates start this education however they need to be evaluated because there is a need to have some specific qualities for this education to be important and effective. There is an analogy that Socrates uses to demonstrate the need for guardian’s education this is though the city.
In Glaucon‘s point of view the city is fine as it is and he marvels as Socrates mentions ways through which it can be made to be even more luxurious. This story has them looking at an ideal city from different perspectives. One of them Glaucon thinks is too good, whereas Socrates introduces issues such as luxuries that bring up potential problems in the idealistic society. These problems include crime, violence and injustices. This is because in a society there is need to maintain order through authority. This therefore is the responsibility of the guardians.
There are different kinds of people required for the society to be ideal. There are instances when security personnel are required as well as more land among others this would be through the recruitment of military personnel. There is also a need for some people to be lord over others. This is the natural order that many societies take. These people become the guardians. There is therefore a need to curb the guardian’s natural tendency to be lord over others.
The guardians, according to Socrates therefore need to be controlled through education. They are to be made to be fierce as animals with people they do not know and gentle as puppies with familiar and family members. According to Socrates education is music for the soul and gymnastics for the body. Through educating the guardians, there will be a change of behavior in them so that they do not turn into tyrants. This means that such kind of education is primarily moral in nature.
According to Socrates, those who qualify for the guardian education must be naturally swift strong and philosophers naturally. They should be individuals with independence and critically thinking. They therefore attack what they do not understand and are to be noble with familiar things.
They are to be physically fit for the guardian position; this is because eventually they will be prepared mentally in the remaining ways by the education they receive. There are also supposed to possess a certain measure of impressionability this enables them to be easy to mould into what they are expected to be in order for them to play the role of the Guardian in a more fitting level. This will make the education they receive both meaningful and practical.
Another very important requirement for a potential guardian receiving education is the love of learning. This love of learning should be innate not something that is forcefully administered. This means that the learner therefore needs to be self driven and not one who is forced into education.
Guardian’s education emphasizes on the blind acceptance of beliefs and behaviors. It does not look much into ability to think critically and in an independent manner as other forms of education do.
Thus according to Plato, this form of education is important in the maintenance of social justice and also for controlling the guardians so that they do not end up being terrorists to ordinary citizens
Education of the guardian therefore is meant to serve the social, political and intellectual concerns of the society. This is because socially, the guardian is educated to maintain social justice and peaceful coexistence. This is through the studies that this form of education instills in the guardian. The political concern is achieved through the leadership that the guardian is set to provide. The guardians rule over the society and are lords over the rest of the people. This is inevitable in any form of society. Therefore, educating them in such areas as dialectics and mathematics makes each for them to be better and just political leaders. The intellectual concerns are addresses in the education of the guardian in aspects such as logic and mathematics which serve to make these leaders better at reasoning and deducing meanings and interpreting situations.
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References
Richards, A., I., (2000) .Plato’s Republic, vol.3, Massachusetts, Cambridge University Press.
